1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a three axis stabilized spacecraft and a method of sun acquisition for the spacecraft utilizing narrow field of view sun sensors.
2. Description of Related Art
An earlier method of sun acquisition is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,076 to Lange. That method uses three sensors each having a rectangular field of view that must be wide enough so that the spacecraft control system can stop rotation of the spacecraft while the sun is within the field of view of the sensors, typically, .+-.30.degree. by .+-.60.degree.. A significant problem with sensors having such a wide field of view is the reception of sunlight reflected from spacecraft appendages such as antennas or solar arrays.